Facebook is reportedly gearing up for a showdown with Russia

Facebook is gearing up for a showdown with Russia over the
location of its servers, according to a local news report.

As it currently stands, a tech giant like Facebook might hold
data about Russians with accounts on any one of a number of data
centres scattered across the globe. But on September 1,
a new law comes into force in Russia requiring tech companies
to store the data they hold on Russian users within the country.

Russian-language news outlet Vedomosti is reporting that
Facebook does not intend to move its data. According to its
sources, the company "does not consider it necessary to place the
data of Russian users on Russian servers," Facebook director of
public policy for the Nordics, Central, and Eastern Europe Thomas
Myrup Kristensen told the Russian telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor,
(translations via Russian
state-owned news outlet Sputnik News,
Street Insider, the Politico Morning Tech email, and
Google Translate). This is because it does not consider the
information it collects to be "personal data." The company also
cites "economic inexpediency" as another reason.

However, a Roskomnadzor spokesperson also denied to Vedomosti
that "Kristensen said Facebook refuses to install servers in
Russia," according to Politico Morning Tech. A Facebook
spokesperson told Business Insider that "we
regularly meet with government officials and have nothing more to
share at this time."